The good, the bad, and the ugly

Originally posted on Thursday May 29, 2008 @ 03:57 AM EDT athttp://fans.nhl.com/members/JuiceinLA/blogs/15606

The Good: Besides the Mules performance? (Whew! Watching the play up to and finishing with his goal- I thought it was Dats until the replay.)

The Good, part deux: The only thing good about watching a game at the bar was that I didn’t hear the sunshine blowing melee for Crosby that apparently occurred on NBC- although I’m told the announcers were slow on one camera queue at the end of the second intermission and Jones got caught on screen with his tie in Crosby’s zipper.

Seriously I don’t want to hate this kid just because the league and the network can’t control their bawl-licking. I’d rather hate him for scoring on Ozzie- but the slap and tickle has to stop.

The Bad: Besides the refs not calling anything once the Pens got the lead? Watching the Pens third goal only to turn to the television playing the Piston-Celtic game and see that frickin’ Crosby Gatorade commercial.

The Bad redux: NBC HAS the worst frickin camera angles- seriously. Though I didn’t mind the scoreboard cam- reminded me of the NFL’s overhead cam. I hate not being able to see the play unfold, and NBC is the worst for shooting the game too close.

The Ugly: Besides minutes 10-40 of the Wings’ game and Fleury’s damn goal posts? The hit on Homer- all of them but primarily that game ending crap. What do we have to do to get the NHL to start protecting him not persecuting him? “WWGRD?” Geez, the real martyr in these playoffs is Homer “WWHD?”

Homer for President! Dangit, citizenship problems. Homer for Governor of California!

Also ugly: why do we keep ripping it right into Fleury’s chest- or taking it down low? He sprawls every time. We have to go top shelf on this guy- EVERYTIME. Top Shelf Top Shelf Top Shelf.

It won’t shock some of you to know that I am “ok” with this loss- I’m not happy, but I’m not freaking out. Here is why:

1. The third period. Wings took back the control. And- I might add- not by pummeling and trying to physically harm the Pens. Plus- how about those two 5 minute runs without a whistle- that was insane!
   
2. There was some good hockey being played tonight- I hated losing, but I was so much more focused on the game, into it, and loving it-barely breathing –too bad the NBC camera angles sucked.
   
3. 
   
4. Ozzie. Holy crap. I know you’re thinking he let 3 in- but many of the saves he made were great, and he really only had one garbage goal. This is my only “criticism”: I wish he had stood on his head like the deity he is even when he didn’t have the amount and quality of D we’ve come to expect.
5. Still. Our azzes are really getting us into trouble in these playoffs. Homer and Ozzie are getting buns of steel DVDs from me for Christmas. Kidding that wasn’t Ozzie’s fault- we should have known they’d channel Lemieux out there for the “butt-bank shot” (it was Lemiueux who used to do that, right?)
   
6. The odds. Odd that they wouldn’t get a win- very slim. Odds that Crosby wouldn’t get a goal? Even slimmer. If you have to take a loss, game 3 is the one to drop. Truth is, if the Wings had put their heads into it earlier in the second, we probably would have headed into overtime
7. Lethargy. Nothing during minutes 10-40 suggested to me that the Pens had taken over the game. But rather that they were finally in it: they their game stepped up, capitalized on our mistakes (for the first time) and yet still they only played just a little bit better than our lackadaisical play. We didn’t play up to our normal standard.
8. The penalties. we got ‘em they sucked they hurt us. ‘nuff said.
9. Putting the puck on the net. Despite all the uncharacteristic scrambling and scrapping, the Wings had many decent shots on goal that made me think of those 1995-1998 playoffs where many many chances produced only one goal on the most unassuming play, often by the least suspecting player (like Sammy tonight)….that harrowing style of play where the Wings still win (in the end), which just causes fans to freak out. But hey that’s our job- These are the Stanley Cup playoffs for cripe sake. So everyone on the team (fans included) have to step up and strap on a set. You and me included.
   
10. Zetts once again blew me away with some amazing puck handling and he is so explosive-even off their blue- we just have to go top shelf on Fleury. TS, TS every time baby.
    
11. Momentum- the opposing team’s momentum is always a concern and the Wings have been stung by it in the past- but this team knows how to deal with it, and Babs message has to be simple- “Show me you learned from Nashville and Dallas, do not let them back into the Joe with 2 wins.” And any championship caliber team should be able to do that.

Rest assured, however, I will not be this complacent and –for lack of a better phrase-(possibly) overly confident-if the Wings don’t shut the Pens down on Saturday. I do consider Saturday a must win, and at 5:15 PST, you’ll find me on the couch in my Larionov jersey, shushing my sister- being a dutiful good Wings fan- once more, terrified for 60. See ya then.

Copyrighted 2008, all rights reserved by Behrgreer Ltd. and the author. No reproduction or use without the express written permission of the author.